In general, as shown in FIG. 1A, a mobile phone includes a main body comprising upper and lower casings 100A and 100B, which are separable, and a recharging connector 200 mounted to the main body. By having a cover 300, the recharging connector 200 is capable of preventing entry of water, as well as dust and other foreign substances. Such a cover 300 is connected by a link shaft 300A, made of an elastic material, to the main body in order to maintain connection with the main body even when the recharging connector is opened.
The cover 300, however, is mainly provided for the dustproof function and does not work well as a waterproof function. Therefore, in situations where the mobile phone is submerged in water, entry of water into the main body of the mobile phone is not effectively prevented, even while the cover 300 is blocking the recharging connector 200. Therefore, entering water can seriously affect the performance of the mobile phone.
To be more specific, as shown in FIG. 1B, the recharging connector 200 includes a housing 11 having therein a plurality of contact terminals 13 formed by insert injection molding and a metal shell 12 that is connected at the outside of the housing 11, thereby constituting a connector assembly 1. The shell 12 includes a pair of fixing holes 121 at an upper part thereof in order to engage hooks of the recharging connector 200. A ground terminal 123 and the contact terminals 13 of the shell 12 are electrically connected to a printed circuit board (PCB) 200A through soldering. Upper parts of the contact terminals 13 are supported by a supporting protrusion 114 projecting to the front of the housing 11.
That is, while a leading end of the contact terminal 13 is inclined upward, a rear end of a horizontally extended part of the contact terminal 13 is bent downward, perpendicularly as to be soldered to the PCB 200A. Here, the soldering is performed using a surface mount device (SMD) type.
According to the SMD soldering, a solder paste 200B, consisting of small gel particles, is interposed between patterns formed on the PCB 200A and the contact terminals 13. Subsequently, heat is applied to melt the solder paste 200B in a chamber such that the patterns and the contact terminals are soldered to each other. Here, the solder paste 200B can be attached to the PCB patterns and the contact terminals 13 through a predetermined viscosity.
More specifically, according to the SMD soldering, the recharging connector 200 is constituted in such a manner that the connector assembly 1 is first placed on the PCB 200A and the ground terminal 123 of the shell 12 is soldered to the PCB 200A. Next, the solder paste 200B is interposed between pattern-type connection terminals (not shown) formed at the PCB 200A and the contact terminals 13 constituting the connector assembly 1, and then heated in the chamber. Accordingly, the solder paste 200B is melt between the connection terminals and the contact terminals 13, thus accomplishing the soldering.
The above-structured recharging connector 200 has a problem in that water can permeate gaps between the shell 12 and the upper and lower casings 100A and 100B, as indicated by arrows in FIG. 1B. Additionally, water may permeate through the fixing holes 121 formed at the upper part of the shell 12, as well as gaps between the housing 11 and the shell 12. As the water enters the PCB 200A, the operation of the mobile phone would be seriously affected.
In order to prevent such water damage to the mobile phone, a sealing member made of rubber may be used. However, the sealing member may become deformed or damaged during assembly of the mobile phone.
More specifically, when electrically connecting the contact terminals 13 of the connector assembly 1 to the PCB 200A, the SMD soldering method is used as explained above, in which the solder paste 200B, interposed between the PCB patterns and the contact terminals 13, is melted in the chamber, thereby achieving the soldering. Therefore, the rubber sealing may be deformed or damaged by heat. Thus, rubber sealing may be improper for practical use.
The shell 12 has a grounding function in order to interrupt electromagnetic waves, generated from the inside and outside thereof. Therefore, the ground terminal 123 disposed at the lower part of the shell 12 and soldered to the PCB 200A is an essential element for grounding and fixing of the shell 12. Nevertheless, the ground terminal 123 in addition becomes a hindrance against waterproofing of the recharging connector 200.
Usually, water enters into the main body of the mobile phone through the fixing holes 121, which are formed at the upper part of the shell 12. To this end, when the sealing member is applied, it is disposed behind the fixing holes 121 of the shell 12. Since the ground terminal 123 of the shell 12 that is electrically connected to the PCB 200A is disposed ahead of the sealing member, the circuit structure may become severely damaged through the ground terminal 123 in spite of provision of the sealing member.
Furthermore, since a lower surface of the shell 12 is in contact with the ground terminal 123 through the whole length thereof as shown in FIG. 2, water may enter through the contacting area despite the use of the sealing member. Thus, the actual waterproofing is hard to accomplish.